2018 Legislative Session Wrap-up

The 2018 Florida Legislative session concluded last month. The Boards of FRID & FAD had been tracking a couple bills:

SB1466/HB1109 - "State Emergency Communications and Warning System"

SB588/HB211 - "Crimes Evidencing Prejudice"

Unfortunately, both of these bills failed to pass. The Board of FRID is disappointed that these critically important bills were not able to become law.

In the coming months, the Board of FRID, and our Advocacy, Education, & Outreach Committee chair, Carrie Moore, will be meeting with the Board of FAD and their Advocacy Chair, Rachelle Settambrino, to discuss our plan for the next legislative session and how we can have a stronger influence on public policy.

In related news, the National Association of the Deaf released a statement recently regarding the 2018 Florida legislative session. Part of the statement read:

"This legislative activity was covered gavel-to-gavel on television and on the legislature’s websites. Deaf and hard of hearing people, however, were not able to understand much of the legislative activity because the state failed to caption the proceedings. As a result, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and disabled rights advocate Eddie I. Sierra of Miami are suing the State of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives, the Florida Senate, the Florida Channel and various other defendants for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973."

To read the full statement, click here, and follow NAD for updates on this lawsuit.